Pixy,

Thanks for previous reply. A followup. Say I open and fund a traditional IRA tomorrow with 2K, designate the money as my '97 contribution, then roll it into a Roth. I had believed that I was then free to contribute up to an additional 2K to the Roth any time during the rest of '98 (or officially up until 4.15.99). I thought this course advantageous to the extent I'd have a quick 4K stashed toward retirement this year, growing in Foolish 4 selected stocks.

I read, however, in my Roth account terms and conditions statement that no contributions other than IRA Conversion Contributions made during the same tax year will be accepted into the Roth. So the rollover counts as my '98 Roth contribution. This worries me. Does my next earliest contribution date then become the '99 tax year? If so, am I misguided about my idea to first establish and fund a traditional IRA, since the imagined benefit of doing this (beefing up my IRA to 4K) turns out not to be allowable?

I hope this makes sense. I'm wondering if I shouldn't just open a Roth straightaway and forego a conversion because each path would lead to the same destination: only 2K in my account during tax year '98 Except I'd pay needless conversion taxes and maintenance costs with the latter.

Thanks again